Tuesday, April 28, 2009

It is always the case with Basil. I buy it to use a bit in one recipe, and then tend to forget the sad little bunch wasting away in the fridge after having used only a few leaves. This is why I'm carefully tending my own small pot of basil, hopefully to use only what I need this summer. So far this tiny little pot has been giving me a run for my money. I've never claimed to have a green thumb, and tend to be quite suspicious of any living green type thing that enters my apartment, but as of yet, I have only almost killed it once! And that was due only to an abnormal heat wave in April! So you see, I really can't take all the credit, and after shriveling sadly in the heat it came back quite nicely in a cold water bath. Success! As you can see, it's still too small for culinary use, and so, until my plant has sprouted the proper amount, I buy my basil, and do my best to not forget about it...

Small but (soon to be) mighty!

And then I open the fridge a few days later, and there it is. The store-bought basil, looking so forlorn and alone on the shelf. Pesto came to mind, but I was out of pine nuts. And so, I decided to experiment. Pesto with almonds! It turned out quite well, if I do say so, and I've been scooping it onto pasta with a bit of goat cheese and lemon. Delicious!

About 20 raw, unsalted almonds1 bunch basila few glugs of good olive oil, enough to make the mixture wet.1 large clove of garlicsalt and pepper to taste

I look for any excuse to use my hand blender, which worked perfectly for this recipe. So much easier than a regular blender, or lugging out the food processor. Throw all the ingredients together, plunge in the hand blender and blend until well mixed! Taste for salt, add as needed.